Reaction to History of the Internet

I use the Internet every single day, whether it is for e-mail, facebook, or just wasting time. However, when I sign onto my computer, I never stop and think, “how did this all start?” In fact, until I signed up for this class, I had no interest in learning the ins and outs of Internet history.

After watching this video, I now understand (sort of) the creation and development of the Internet. For example, I know that we can thank the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis for the Internet - both the fear of an atomic attack and the desire to secure America’s lead in technology led to the development of a distributed network, or a network with a decentralized structure. I also understand that without scientific, military, and commercial approaches, the Internet would not be what it is today. While the commercial approach perfected packet switching, the scientific approach advanced the IMP and TCP developments. With a focus on all three aspects – military, scientific, and commercial – the Internet materialized into a user-friendly technology.

Unfortunately, the video lost me when it started talking about the Cyclades’ protocol. I do not really understand any of this. How does the physical layer implemented into the hardware of the computer work? What does "[...] the computers were not to intervene anymore" mean?

Overall, the movie was helpful - it allowed me to actually comprehend the history of the Internet. However, I do think that such dense information deserves a video with more colors, animation, and humor.